Montgomery County To Reinstitute Coronavirus Contact Tracing

NORRISTOWN, PA — Montgomery County has announced plans to reinstitute contact tracing as the next stage of the battle against coronavirus gets underway.

Contact tracing is a term that was frequently used in the early days of the outbreak. The process involves an investigation of everyone an individual who has tested positive has come into contact with since their test result.

Contact tracing is being implemented as case numbers in Montgomery County and around Pennsylvania continue to decline. "It's clear we are beating this thing," Commissioner Val Arkoosh said on Tuesday, while noting how crucial it was to continue social distancing measures.

Once community spread began in the county in March, it became impossible to accurately track the virus due to its prevalance, so the county stopped.

The county has seen around 1,100 new cases the past two weeks, down from about 1,800 the two weeks prior to that.In order for Montgomery County to reach the final "green" phase, where major mitigation measures are lifted, the total number of county cases must be down to an average of 30 per day, or a total of 415 new cases over a 14-day period.

Officials posted four new jobs to fill out the team that will complete the tracing: a senior and logistics manager, a field operations coordinator, a clinical coordinator, and a data coordinator. The interviewing process has already begun.

The group will work with local community organizations to complete contact tracing, getting in touch with residents who have become positive and then identifying the individuals they had been near.

All information will be input to the SARA emergency alert system in partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Contact tracing not only helps contain the disease by isolating potentially positive individuals, but it allows officials to gain a more accurate grasp on the status of the virus in a given area, how many supplies and resources are needed, and more.

"We'll refine the plan as needed in the upcoming year," Arkoosh said.

Montgomery County has 5,274 positive cases of coronavirus and 429 deaths as of Tuesday afternoon.